My Talent Can Constantly Evolve - Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Talent

After the two walked into the office, Instructor Wu walked straight to his seat and sat down. He then gave Lu Heng a look, indicating that the latter should stand in front of him.

Lu Heng quickly took two steps forward and stood with his back straightened.

A person who practiced martial arts had to stand and sit properly. This was a principle that all children understood, and was something that Lu Heng naturally would not forget.

Instructor Wu nodded in satisfaction. He picked up a teacup on the table and asked, “Tell me, why does the sound represent the mastery of the introductory moveset?”

Hearing his question, Lu Heng answered without hesitation, “Because when you can produce the sound, it not only means that you have mastered the moveset, but also that your stance and internal strength has also progressed to a certain extent.”

“That’s right!”

Instructor Wu nodded in approval, “If you did not properly practice the moveset, you would not have been able to produce the sound. Similarly, if your strength had not improved, you would not have been able to produce the sound either.”

“However, in your current situation, the production of that sound is your limit. You are still incapable of using that moveset in actual combat.”

The martial artists of this era were very pragmatic. The reason they practiced martial arts was to deal with monsters.

Therefore, whether it was in schools or dojos, they paid great attention to actual combat ability when teaching students.

“Okay, let’s talk about your talent in martial arts.”

After drinking a sip of tea, Instructor Wu put down the teacup in his hand and said, “The fact that you managed to master the moveset so quickly indicates that your comprehension ability is pretty good, and that you are stronger than most students.”

“And the rapid progress of your strength is sufficient to indicate that your physique is very suitable for practicing martial arts.”

“Now, let me test you. What factors are related to the growth of your strength?”

Upon hearing this, Lu Heng quickly recalled the martial arts theories he had learned, then, he said, “It has to do with the body’s adaptability to qi , and it also has to do with the type of martial arts being practiced. It’s also related to a person’s perception, effort, and the teacher’s guidance.”

“Generally speaking, these are the main factors.”

Lu Heng recalled each factor carefully as he spoke as he was afraid that he would overlook something.

Instructor Wu nodded approvingly again and said, “Not bad. As expected of a top student who managed to get into high school. Your memory is much better than the other students.”

“You’re correct. It has to do with these few factors and, among them, the body’s adaptability to qi is the most important.”

“You should have learned it in school. The reason why the warriors of our era possess such great power is because of the emergence of the mysterious energy we call qi.”

The word qi had existed since ancient times, though it only existed as a concept. However, it was now used to refer to a mysterious energy that could improve a person’s physical quality.

Currently, research on qi was still ongoing and humanity had yet to fully understand it.

However, one thing was certain, this mysterious energy had appeared on humanity’s blue planet along with the appearance of the ‘Otherworld Passage’.

It had not existed prior to that.

“We usually use variants of the terms ‘good’ or ‘bad’ to describe the human body’s adaptability to qi. Based on my current judgment, your physique seems to fall under the category of ‘excellent’.”

“That was why I said just now that your physique is very suitable for practicing martial arts.”

Hearing this, Lu Heng was a little puzzled. He wondered why his talent had suddenly become ‘excellent’.

However, he did not have time to think about this bizarre situation at this point in time. Right now, he only wanted to know how long it would take for him to become a martial artist given his newfound talent.

“Instructor,” Lu Heng said.

Instructor Wu was about to continue, but when he saw Lu Heng speak up, he asked, “Is there anything you want to ask me?”

“Instructor,” Lu Heng asked hesitantly, “Can I ask where my talent ranks among those here in the dojo?”

Actually, he did not want to ask this question because, in his heart, he had always felt that whether a person was outstanding or not depended on their actual actions, and not the evaluation of others.

However, he really wanted to know whether he could become a martial artist within two months.

This was very important as it would determine his and Xiaoxiao’s fates.

On the other side, Instructor Wu heard Lu Heng’s question and understood his intentions. He smiled and then shook his head. “Talent is something that cannot be quantified, so it is very difficult to rank.”

“Moreover, that was only a preliminary judgment. To determine your actual level of talent, careful observation is required.”

At this point, Instructor Wu paused. Noticing that Lu Heng was not satisfied with this answer, he continued, “Forget it, I’ll just explain it to you in detail.”

“How do we judge a person’s talent in martial arts? It primarily depends on the speed of their progress when practicing martial arts.”

“But you yourself just answered that the growth of a person’s strength is related to several factors.”

“The body’s adaptability to qi is not the sole factor in determining one’s talent for martial arts. The degree of one’s effort, comprehension ability, and the guidance of others are all very important factors as well.”

“Comprehension ability is innate and also a type of talent. Whether or not a person is willing to work hard is related to a person’s nature. It is also related to external pressure and internal motivation.”

“However, the guidance of others has nothing to do with your own abilities.”

“I can even say this to you. The guidance of a master teacher is sometimes more important than your own talent. Have you heard the saying that a master teacher produces good disciples?”

“You have been to the dojo’s library. There are all kinds of cultivation techniques there. However, do you know which one suits you best?”

“Of course you don’t. Therefore, you need someone who has traveled down that path to help you choose the cultivation technique that suits you best.”

“It’s not over after you’ve chosen the cultivation technique either. You still need your teacher to guide you one-on-one according to your situation. Otherwise, if you practice blindly, not only will it be ineffective, your body might also be crippled.”

“This is a test of the teacher’s eyesight as well as their teaching ability. Some people know everything, but don’t know how to teach others. That won’t do.”

“To get to the point, I’m not saying all this to tell you how important your teacher is. Instead, I’m telling you that only the person who teaches you personally will know just how talented you are in martial arts.”

“Because only the person who teaches you personally can grasp all the details.”

“For example, I personally think that your talent is good, but other people who have never come into contact with you before will be completely unable to judge your talent.”

“That’s because they only know that you managed to master this moveset in less than two months, but are unaware as to the reason behind this achievement. It could have been because I gave you special training, or perhaps because you worked extra hard to practice it.”

“In a nutshell, talent can’t be ranked. I can’t just blindly say that you have high comprehension ability and a strong physique. Would all the other instructors agree so easily?”

“They will likely believe that the students they personally teach are better and more outstanding than you are.”

“Speaking of which, after hearing this, you must be wondering why there’s a talent test for martial arts when the civil and martial arts classes are being divided in school.”

“Actually, it’s all imprecise. And that’s not limited to just things like comprehension, which is difficult to measure. Even things like physical fitness, which can be measured by scientific means, cannot be truly measured.”

“You must have had your physical fitness tested in school but, in the end, you were still assigned to the civil class, right?”

At this point, Instructor Wu suddenly remembered something and said, “By the way, there’s something I missed. Some newly developed energy drugs can greatly improve one’s ability after consumption. This will also affect the judgment of a person’s talent.”

“Energy drugs?”

Lu Heng was very interested in the energy drugs that Instructor Wu had mentioned and wanted to ask him about it.

However, on second thought, even if he asked, he would never be able to get his hands on such a thing.

Just as Lu Heng was hesitating as to whether to ask or not, Instructor Wu’s next words directly dispelled his thoughts.

“Don’t ask about the energy drugs. I’m not very clear about such things either. I only know that they exist. We are not warriors and, as such, we won’t come into contact with these things.”

After saying that, Instructor Wu took a sip of tea and ended the topic. “In short, talent in martial arts is very important, but at the same it’s also not that important.”

“In the end, we practice martial arts to improve our actual combat ability. As long as you can kill more monsters and garner more contributions, who cares how you got your skills?”

“During the martial arts assessment, it doesn’t matter whether your talent is good or bad. Your strength has to be up to the standard.”

“So don’t be too concerned about your level of talent.”

From Lu Heng’s expression earlier, Instructor Wu could tell that Lu Heng was very concerned about his level of talent, so he emphasized that point.

However, after saying all that, he switched it up and said, “Of course, if you want to go far on this path, talent is really crucial.”

“Take the famous Grandmaster Liu in Jiangnan City for example. He became a grandmaster at a young age because his talent in martial arts is far beyond that of ordinary people.”

“If his talent had been a little lower, he would still be a rank nine martial artist.”

Hearing the name of Grandmaster Liu mentioned, Lu Heng’s interest was immediately piqued.

It was not because Grandmaster Liu was Liu Shiyao’s father, but rather because he felt that, if he knew Grandmaster Liu’s growth trajectory, he might be able to judge how long it would take for him to become a martial artist himself.